Category Archives: photography

I stumbled across an annual procession for one of the Yuli-area Mazus quite by accident. Lucky for me, because it turned out to be every bit as lively as the Dajia pilgrimage I had participated in the week before – perhaps even more so. Continue reading →

I spent two days in Yuli, Hualien County, where I discovered an amazing hostel-cafe-bar called “Our Cafe.” There, under the watchful eye of a colossal portrait of Sun Yat-sen, I drank enough beer to make the next day of bike-riding a laborious and sweaty affair. Just another bit of penance for not having the organizational foresight to get my international license before leaving Canada. Continue reading →

Mazu is a Daoist goddess of the sea, and she is widely revered by the island-dwelling people of Taiwan. Even the smallest towns have at least one temple devoted to her, and in each one of them you’ll find an ornately carved Mazu statue which has been imbued with her power. Continue reading →

My first stop in Taitung County was Jinlun (金崙). Not for its (supposedly) beautiful hot springs – that would be too expensive, say nothing of the fact I didn’t bring a swimsuit to save space in my backpack. Continue reading →

In Kaohsiung I was lucky enough to stay next door to my girlfriend’s uncle, who let me tag along in a hike up Chai Mountain (柴山). This is a place where locals go to get some exercise and escape the dour concrete of the city for an hour or two. Continue reading →

Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s Pittsburgh, the island’s former industrial heartland and likely birthplace to many of our products in the West that bore the ‘made in Taiwan’ stamp through the 1970s and 1980s. And just like Pittsburgh it’s a city that fell on hard times when global capital realignment saw heavy industry seeking cheaper pastures in countries like China. After the boom times ended, Kaohsiung was left with poisoned rivers, rusting factories, and a tepid job market such that to this day many graduates are forced to leave home and seek employment in northern Taiwan. Continue reading →

Though I had to leave Taipei and continue my trip around the island, it didn’t take long before I encountered another manifestation of the Sunflower Movement. The students of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second-largest city in the south of the island, have organized a nightly ‘citizen’s forum’ in Kaohsiung Central Park from 7-10pm. I asked one of the organizers how long these forums will go on, to which he responded: “until it’s over.” Continue reading →